Minor Contest #1: Pick It Up! [FINALIST VOTING]

[Idolon]

Main Thread | Uploads | Prelim Voting | Finalist Voting | Results​

Deadline

• Finalist voting ends June 22nd, 2020, 11:59 PM (23:59) GMT.
  • If we don't have good turnout, then voting will be extended an extra week.
• Playtests will be held on our servers to play these maps on a regular basis.
  • Join our Discord or our Steam Group to be notified whenever a map test starts!

Voting Format

Finalist voting is based on a 0-100 scale, and final scores will be determined by average. The original post for this contest advertised a new voting system based on ranked falloff voting, but it turns out that doesn't make any sense whatsoever, so we're using what we've done in the past, but with larger numbers.

Your score should reflect how fun the map is, as well as how well the map fits the contest theme.

Optionally, you may also award the following honorary titles to each map as you see fit:

• Most Creative
• Greatest Potential
• Most Well-Rounded
• Best Alpha Style
• Best One-Way Route
• Best Use of Pickups
• Best Name

You are also encouraged to leave additional feedback with your votes, but it is not required.

You may not vote for your own map. Votes may be thrown our at the discretion of staff*.

Use this table to cast your votes:

[table=head]
MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | |
Astarte | |
Hotted Boobs | |
Lunarbase V2 | |
Mannscape | |
Moraine | |
Scarab | |
Skyway | |
Wichita | |
[/table]

*In the interest of transparency, there will be a public record of what votes were thrown out at the end of public voting, if there are any.

 

[Idolon]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 50 |
Astarte | 50 | Greatest Potential
Hotted Boobs | 60 |
Lunarbase V2 | 35 | Most Creative
Mannscape | 75 |
Moraine | 85 | Best Alpha Style, Best Name, Best Use of Pickups
Scarab | 47 |
Skyway | 57 |
Wichita | 55 | Best One-Way Route

AAAA
A pervasive problem through a lot of the standard CTF maps in this contest seems to be that the attacking team has a fairly easy time holding forward at mid, which basically locks the defending team into their base. Sometimes this also comes in the form of a lobby between spawn and mid that can be hard for defenders to clear out, which I think this map suffers from a fair amount. Also, you can kind of tell that the map was made by a pyro main by its scale. There are very few parts of the map where pyro can be effectively outranged, especially in the lobby.

ASTARTE
A is generally fun, but B is a pain to push. Flanking classes have trouble carrying their weight because the flanks don't require much rotation from red to be able to cover.

HOTTED BOOBS
This map always feels like I'm playing it on a half-full server, which I think is because the lobby design is a bit bloated and also heavily separated. The divided design of the lobbies can also be quite irritating because the main rotation requires going through mid, where the enemy team may have high ground over you in almost every direction. If the enemy team is holding forward, your only flank is a long walk.

LUNARBASE V2
In general, most areas of this map are not particularly fun for combat. Areas are overscaled and you have few options for attack. Mid is the worst offender, and it seems that people barely actually fight in mid - they just fight in the side areas and only go to mid when the portal is active. The moon area, which is a neat gimmick, has some issues - in addition to not being a very good area for combat, the low gravity is too extreme to be fun. Lastly, possibly as a result of the general overscaling, rounds take ages to complete.

MANNSCAPE
Generally a pretty fun asym map. The main issue I have with the map is that flanks are less effective than they feel like they should be - A is good in this regard, but B and C's flanks just don't offer blue enough power to be useful for an individual player to make progress. Not that teamwork isn't a good thing, but I want a bit more agency.

MORAINE
The best implementation of A/D CTF in the contest. The way each flank is scaled to work as a "main" route but also still functions as a flank really helps with allowing the attacking team a variety of options for pushing the flag. I have some complaints about particular parts of the map (A is too difficult to push out of lobby, and it feels like spawncamping is almost required to push C), but overall this is the most solid and consistent map in the contest.

SCARAB
Both points need more options for attack. B is definitely more fun as it seems a bit harder for a team to shut down the other team from entering, but A's sniper balcony enables a sniper to shut down pushes far too effectively.

SKYWAY
This map can be great and it can be painful. I think the largest issue I have is how the map is designed to have routes through the base be effective attacking routes - I'm not sure how you can design this well without also allowing spawncamping. The flow through lobby into mid is also janky at best.

WICHITA
This map is a lot of fun for defense, but has issues with spawncamping and a chaotic mid.

 

[eighntes]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 85 |
Astarte | 74 |
Hotted Boobs | |
Lunarbase V2 | |
Mannscape | 95 | Most Well-Rounded
Moraine | 43 |
Scarab | 58 | Best Alpha Style
Skyway | 93 | Greatest Potential
Wichita | 73 | Best Name, Most Creative

Spoiler: stuff

aaaa: Very enjoyed, but I didn't like having to recapture the entrance to my own intel room from the enemy, or maybe thats just my problem with that style of ctf map... But we still capped anyway so something has to be right about it

Astarte: Very enjoyed pushing last, less enjoyed pushing first. I liked the feeling of being able to go super deep into the opponent's last room before ubering in

Hotted Boobs: Scratch what I had earlier, I have not been able to play the last few versions so I really can't vote here.

Lunarbase: Didn't get to play

Mannscape: Perfect in every aspect. Okay maybe 1st could use a little more use of the "flank" but other than that it somehow comes together.

Moraine: Played update and now BLU gets to each point at the same time RED does. Might make for cool koth action but BLU also get the high ground / jump on RED each time. The only tenable point is 1st. Oof

Scarab: Sorry I just don't like PD Also Sniper is quite strong and didnt really get that much weaker over the versions.. yes in PD sniping is less effective but even if it gives your team a point you're still dying.. and when you die you feel like you let your team down ... still dont like PD...

Skyway: As I can only play medic I like how the middle area has tons of places for you to slip around and away from enemies, and it also looks super nice. Only issue is getting our of the flag "room" as it is on the larger side and goes past the enemy spawn

Wichita: Too many snipers and also didn't like how defending was basically putting sentries near your trains. Second-Greatest Potential

 

[MystycCheez]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 65 | Best Name
Astarte | 70 |
Hotted Boobs | 50 |
Lunarbase V2 | 35 |
Mannscape | 90 | Most Well-Rounded
Moraine | 90 | Greatest Potential
Scarab | 35 |
Skyway | 55 | Best Alpha Style
Wichita | 90 | Most Creative

 

[Niro]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 40 | Best one-way route
Astarte | 20 | Best name
Hotted Boobs | 80 |
Lunarbase V2 | 60 | Most creative
Mannscape | 85 |
Moraine | 85 | Greatest potential
Scarab | 95 | Most well-rounded
Skyway | 45 | Best alpha style
Wichita | 70 |

 

[Skylark]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 98 |

Astarte |

|

Hotted Boobs |

|

Lunarbase V2 |

|

Mannscape |

|

Moraine |

|

Scarab |

|

Skyway | 100 |

Wichita |

|

ADMIN EDIT: These scores were not counted in the final tally since they are randomly generated.

 

[Mâché]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 35 |
Astarte | 30 |
Hotted Boobs | 65 | Best One-Way Route
Lunarbase V2 | 30 |
Mannscape | 70 | Best Name
Moraine | 80 | Most Well-Rounded, Best Alpha Style
Scarab | 45 | Most Creative, Best Use of Pickups
Skyway | 55 | Greatest Potential
Wichita | spaghetti | Smallest Skyscraper

 

[Another Bad Pun]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa |75 |Best Name
Astarte | 50|
Hotted Boobs | 75|
Lunarbase V2 |60 |
Mannscape | 85|Most Creative
Moraine |85 |Best Alpha Style
Scarab | |
Skyway |60 |
Wichita | 60|

 

[pont]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 65 | Greatest Potential
Astarte | 25 |
Hotted Boobs | N/A | I made this!
Lunarbase V2 | 30 |
Mannscape | 75 |
Moraine | 90 | Best Alpha Style, Best Use of Pickups
Scarab | 55 | Most Creative
Skyway | 65 |
Wichita | 40 |

additional feedback:

aaaa: this is a fun map! some troubles with spawncamping and combat at mid feels a little bit clunky with all the narrow height, but it's definitely getting there. excited to see where this one goes after the contest freeze.

astarte: i can't recall having fun playing this map. a lot of the routing - especially into B - splits BLU up and funnels them into chokes that get spammed out easily. as RED, it's not a lot of fun left clicking at a doorway. every way in feels like a flank.

lunarbase: had fun playing backburner pyro, but definitely couldn't imagine playing this map as anything else. the main part of the map is tight and the geometry at mid is incredibly busy, and as soon as one team gets to the lowgrav part, it's hopeless trying to contest as they can kill you as soon as you enter and get free points for it.

mannscape: fun! i enjoy playing on this map, though there are routing issues around A that make it feel much harder for BLU than it actually is, and C could do with a bit of a rework.

moraine: my favourite map from the contest. besides some routing at B to make the highground more obvious for defense, (lighting + adjust corridors from RED B spawn?), moraine is an excellent map and a ton of fun to play.

scarab: didn't expect to see a halloween map in this contest. this is neat! i don't really have much to say on it. funny to watch people fall for the pickup switching spell.

skyway: skyway is an interesting mixed bag. mid is nice and has a lot of flank options, though is impossible to push if a team manages the (very difficult) task of establishing there. the spawns are in a nice place, though they never feel truly safe from enemies. in general i feel like i'm about to get flanked at every point. fun, but pretty stressful to play.

wichita: i really want to like this map, but every time i play it it's ruined by routing problems. spawning players on the side and so close to mid means they have to fan out immediately to go to either enemy parking, mid, our parking, or our intel. i hardly see full pushes when i play, just occasional skirmishes one- or two-on-one because everyone splits up so much.

 

[DrSquishy]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | N/A |
Astarte | 20 |
Hotted Boobs | 65 | Best One-Way Route
Lunarbase V2 | 25 | Most Creative
Mannscape | 85 | Greatest Potential
Moraine | 95 | Best Use of Pickups, Most Well-Rounded
Scarab | 75 |
Skyway | 70 | Best Name, Best Alpha Style
Wichita | 40 |

Scores may be updated, I think I'm fairly comfortable with what I've got here though

Feedback:
Note that a lot of this is written from the view of someone who plays almost exclusively pyro, however I do play other classes sometimes too.
I'll potentially refine these thoughts later

Spoiler: Astarte

I don't enjoy this map much. Last feels like some bizarre mosh pit to me, where if red sets up a proper defence all blu can do is literally throw bodies and ubers at the point until it's captured. A feels very tight, a single demoman or soldier was able to clear the point if they weren't taken out quickly by attackers.

Spoiler: Hotted Boobs

I like this map a lot, it's got good deathmatch in it and there are plenty of ways to approach the flag as an attacker. I wish it had a more defined main route though, the bases somewhat feel like they're made up of flanks to me and teams often feel really split up across the map. I usually enjoy combat across pretty much everywhere on the map, especially around mid. I do wish that there were better ways to intercept people leaving the bases, it feels like a nightmare sometimes

Spoiler: Lunarbase

Mid is not an enjoyable combat space to me. It is very open and large and the fighting there feels very formless, with people coming from all directions wherever you are in it. I don't particularly enjoy the fighting in the routes around the point either, perhaps I was just missing the close-quarters, tighter areas that I often enjoy playing in a lot more than bigger open areas.
The moon was my least favourite part of the map, with a single cap zone that teams can camp easily because it's the highground in the middle of it all, and annoying low gravity that means a single airblast or rocket can send you flying off without any hope of you getting back to the ground, You're vulnerable whenever you leave the ground, and I really dislike that. I feel alternating points with a very limited low-grav area like in the original lunarbase are much better than this single capzone focus.

Spoiler: Mannscape

Generally very enjoyable, I feel B is the weakest part of this map. There are plenty of good opportunities for rocket jumping with the geometry around A, and I found the holds at A and C fun to both attack and defend.
B feels very hard to take over - if red doesn't make a mistake then they can beat back blu every time they approach the point and as an attacker I feel like I lack useful routes that I can use to take out the powerful sentry spots behind the point. Conversely, if blu rushes the point after A is capped then red has absolutely no chance at defending usually, as without a proper presence behind B the point is taken over very quickly. I much preferred the old B point area where the point was located by a cliffside, I found combat around the deathpit a lot more enjoyable than the current point.
C's defence feels very unstable and I enjoy that, however I disliked how both B and C could be so easily defended by a defender rushing ahead of their team and contesting from the other side of the nipple, while the rest of the team respawned/built back a presence in the area. I don't enjoy fighting against holds like that very much, it feels like every nest wipe doesn't have a huge impact on the flow of the point's capture because someone can just contest until the defence is back again. Offensive engineers felt very strong on C too, I'm not sure if this was intended or not but a sentry in the left (defender's view) doorway onto C could mean an almost guaranteed capture for blu if they handled their offence right. Overall, I feel A and C are very strong points, however B needs improvement

Spoiler: Moraine

I like this map a lot, there's a wide range of combat spaces to be in and red has to handle where their defence is carefully if they want to be able to defend. I enjoy the area around A a lot, for the most part B and C are very fun too but I do have some qualms with them.
I'm not sure what it is about the routing around C, but pyro doesn't feel very effective in the area. I often felt myself gravitating towards the left as a defender (attacking view) highground as the tight combat space and blind corners gave me opportunities to catch enemies off-guard and take them out. As an attacking pyro I felt fairly useless on C, and I've not really got any idea how to play them on attack for C at all.
Holding the right (defenders view) highground on B feels integral to keeping control of the point, however I rarely saw any proper defence set up there, and I wish the route had more significance given to it through the architecture around the point - it feels somewhat easy to ignore if you don't know how important it is.

Spoiler: Scarab

This is a fun map, shame about the halloween aspects. I don't think I've got much to say about the A point, but I don't like B very much. The combat space doesn't feel very interesting to me, and you're at mercy to a proper defence set up on the catwalk if your team can't clear it. The jump pads feel like a bandaid fix to how hard it is to rotate between the lowground and highground, I don't enjoy playing around them very much and they feel frustrating to use. You're completely committed to the jump once you use them, so if there's a defender on the catwalk that you didn't notice, you can be mowed down in an instant.
There are some very annoying sightlines around the map, I think you know about these already though.
I get that you want to make a halloween map, but it feels like it's to the detriment of the map. I absolutely despise pumpkin bombs, crumpkins, spells, skeletons, etc - any of the halloween things. The dark halloween lighting makes seeing enemies frustrating at times. The wheel of doom giving people random effects is very frustrating. I wish this map had been tested purely gameplay-wise with proper lighting + no halloween gimmicks, I really disliked having to deal with them while also trying to play in the map.
The A redesign on this map was very nice, I think the new combat space is a lot better than it was before, B just feels like a chore to play around through especially with halloween gimmicks thrown in.

Spoiler: Skyway

The weakest part of this map is mid in my opinion - the old mid had issues but I think I preferred it (especially the earlier alpha) mids to the current one. The lowground feels uncomfortable to fight around, and I dislike the combat in each side's indoors areas.
The options to attack the bases from the intel are very nice and I always feel like I have some way to escape defenders if I plan my exit through the bases well enough - as a soldier it feels like I can cheese an escape easily by rocket jumping up the dropdown though, then stringing together rocket jumps on the long outdoors area. I generally enjoy the combat spaces a lot
I think the themeing on this map is fantastic, and I can't wait to see it in beta eventually (if developement continues)

Spoiler: Wichita

I don't get what exactly about this map as a whole causes me to dislike it, all that I know is that something about it makes it so that none of my usual playstyles work, so I end up not having much fun when playing offensively/around mid. My least favourite part of the map is the spawnyard area, it feels like there is no buffer in between leaving spawn and entering combat - there is that small corridor/room area there but it still feels like you're dumped right into a fight from spawn, with an enemy almost always being there. Occasionally there was also an opportunistic demoman camping spawn with stickies too, because of the exits we are given.
Sentries outside the intel room exits feel very painful to deal with, I wish we had better options. A proper sentry defence feels like it locks the entire map down easily and just shifts the strong turtle from the intel to outside the intel.

 

[catfish]

MAP | SCORE
aaaa | 60
Astarte | 70
Hotted Boobs | 70
Lunarbase V2 | 50
Mannscape | 90
Moraine | 80
Scarab | 70
Skyway | 92
Wichita | 65

Feedback/Justification:

Spoiler: aaaa

While this map is enjoyable enough, I feel like it has not entirely succeeded at what it set out to accomplish. The dropdown and window structures in the intelligence room lead to Engineers and other defenders covering the route out of the intel room. As well as this, the mid on this map is small, square and does not have any flank routes, leading to rounds where it was very hard to push out into mid.

Spoiler: Astarte

Point A is a lot of fun! Point B felt like it was either a roll or a full hold for RED if they got a chance to set up. The high ground from spawn RED has on B provides a safe place for snipers to kill people coming in and demomen to spam onto the point.

Spoiler: Hotted Boobs

There is so many different ways to get out from the intel room it felt very hard to intercept the flag after it got picked up. The routes are all somewhat close, too, so the HUD indicator for what the direction of the picked up flag is became unreliable, too.

Spoiler: Lunarbase V2

The main combat area of this map felt unfocused. The A and B marked areas were where most of the combat took place, but I did not feel like these were particularly fun combat areas. The outer-space area is thematically cool, but low gravity does not make for very fun combat. As well as this, the proximity of the escape portal to the point and the fact that it instantly brings you to safety means that you can easily save your points from the cap zone by entering the portal.

Spoiler: Mannscape

It's good. The only complaint I would have is that the C point design does not lend itself very well to ADCTF, with it being easy to get the flag in an awkward spot on the lowground or reset entirely in the deathpit.

Spoiler: Moraine

This is a clean and cool map. I don't really have issues with A, but B felt like the defense got rolled very often and the way to hold it is not intuitive. The C point as RED feels like you have to cover many powerful positions from BLU, while as BLU it feels like you have to struggle to get everyone to take the same route to get a successful push together, making it stressful to play on for either team.

Spoiler: Scarab

I don't really have anything concrete to say about this map other than that I do not like the crit pumpkins, but I guess they are part of the "halloween package".

Spoiler: Skyway

My personal favorite of the contest maps. Feels like a proper TF2 map.

Spoiler: Wichita

Fun to mess around in. Similar to ctf_aaaa, the structure of the intel room has only moved the location of the defense. Spawns are also an issue.

 

[ibex]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 85 | Greatest Potential
Astarte | 60 |
Hotted Boobs | 65 |
Lunarbase V2 | 40 |
Mannscape | 70 |
Moraine | 70 |
Scarab | 60 |
Skyway | 80 | Most Creative
Wichita | 65 | Best Name

If this had been a major contest I would think splitting sym and asym maps would be better (especially with pickups/flags), but with the "Minor" title I guess it's meant to be simplified.

Feedback and ramblings:

Spoiler: aaaa

Probably my favorite of the contest. I really like what the routes out of the intel room are doing, I just think that the abundance of metal makes it a bit too easy to set up nests. I'd also appreciate a bit more cover around the exits of the intel room (most people end up learning to leave through the back exit), but that would probably require redesigning the exits all together. I don't really have much to say on mid, but it does get me to the flag easily. Also, this route (img) seems a bit antithetical to the torturous escape design (though I don't think I saw it abused).

Spoiler: astarte

Didn't get to see a lot of the versions, but this changed a lot each time I saw it. I think the drastic geo changes didn't allow you to get a hold on the minor details to smooth out the gameplay. At one point A was very open and easily defendable, now it feels cramped (cap and area directly around it) and hard to defend without forward holding. There are lots of small metals scattered around, I assume to limit the effectiveness of nests. I think A could really benefit from a well defined nest, maybe here (img). You'd have to remove the flank behind it, but there is still the flank under it, and it can be outraged from the farside on blu's left flank. I think B is getting to a good place, but as people have suggested red's spawn is a bit cumbersome. I think removing the deadspace on red's right spawn exit would help greatly (img red). I also think this route would benefit from a bit cover/separation (img blu) to help blu get in, but also keep blu from sniping into spawn exits.

Also, generic adctf feedback: The flag doesn't really do anything for the gameplay, and sometimes only hinders capping the points after a good push.

Spoiler: hotted boobs

Don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other on this one. Mid feels fine, easy to move around in and enough routes to bypass fights to get toward the intel. The lower routes into the intel aren't particular interesting to fight in (especially the water route), and the upper routes height advantage and two medium health kits is a bit too powerful. I think you also need to give engis a bit more options for intel room nests.

Spoiler: lunarbase

Capturezone/low grav area is just annoying to fight in. You teleport into an uncovered, open position with height disadvantage to the cap. It seems to exacerbate not being a soldier/scout, who already get enough advantages in PD.

I like what the "A" area has become, but it's clearly a very advantageous spot while "B" feels pretty uninteresting. I also like the lower area of the circular room, but it doesn't see much use besides when you fall down there. Maybe you could add routes from spawn into the lower area, and decrease the health kit at the top of A.

Spoiler: mannscape

Pretty good AD map, but as the generic adctf feedback goes: The flag doesn't really do anything for the gameplay, and in this case it can actively hurt C. The deathpit reset seems to be mostly avoided as blu players want to stay on the opposite side for cover, but the lower area where you fall safely can ruin a good push as both routes back up to the cap are relatively long.

I like A and the areas leading up to it. Still not sure about having the hut's roof be accessible, especially right next to that chokey door. B turns into a spamfest for the most part, and blu only having two routes out of the choke after A doesn't help. The areas before B would really benefit from some displacement work or clutter to soak up all the explosive spam. I like the fights around the shaft on C, but again the low area doesn't play well with the flag.

Spoiler: moraine

So this was probably the map I played the least out of the contest, and I never seemed to play a good round of it really. It definitely has interesting geometry. However I never got to experience a lot of it because it either stalled out on A or rolled through to an awkward defense/end on top of C. Maybe the lobbies before B and C are just too complex for creating a consistent frontline. Maybe it's that the height flank always leads directly above and behind the point, ruining red's potential nests. There also doesn't seem to be a "main route" on C; B sort of has one, but I didn't see it used much. In contrast, A has a relatively simple lobby that is easy to read and clear out whether you are on blu or red (though this probably only works because it is so close to the spawn).

As far as the generic adctf feedback goes, the A point kind of works in the context of adctf with how close the flag and point are to each other. The deathpit reset is worrisome, but I didn't see it executed. Otherwise, B and C didn't really do anything with the flag, and I think the complexity of the routes around C could result in the flag getting separated from the main push and ruining a cap chance.

Spoiler: scarab

First off, the detailing and theme are great, but this is an gameplay contest so I'm going to try to ignore that.

I'm not really experienced with pd design or halloween for that matter, but overall I just wasn't having much fun. The layout feels very similar to that of a viaduct-esque koth, with an expanded/doubled mid. I think it works okay for getting people to the points, but otherwise it feels lackluster when you aren't actively fighting over the caps. Maybe the walk from spawn is too long? A lot of the arenas outside the points feel wide open and moderately flat. And the height advantage over the points only has one way in per side (sans explosive jumping).

Spoiler: skyway

I think this has probably the strongest intel "room" of the contest, and I enjoy getting to it and fighting in it. Not a fan of the advantage that explosive jumpers get to get out of the area, but otherwise I think it works really well. Wacky suggestion, but maybe a standard one-way door would work to allow people to still outrange sentries, and require someone to hold it open should they want to return that way. I think the lower/longest route has suffered in this version though, especially with how exposed it is at mid. It used to be a useful sneaky route that just took longer to execute, but now it lacks its advantage (and maybe healthkit quantity too). Maybe some well positioned tram cars could help break up the space at mid and also offer some cover to the lower route.

Spoiler: wichita

Works decently, but my biggest gripe is that the routes out of intel all lead to basically the same spot at the low ground in front of the enemy spawn. None of them offer much in the way of advantages, besides the slightly longer route that reduces your healthkit size to offer a slight height advantage. A single sentry can cover all three exits. Additionally, with the layout around there, explosive jumpers get a massive advantage to get away from the spawn room more easily.

I like mid for the most part, though the sightline to the enemy spawn is a bit abuseable. The dropdown garage feels like a bit of an afterthought, wish it had more to it for how much space it occupies.

Pictures to come where I had (img). As always, take my rambling feedback however you want, and feel free to ignore specific suggestions.

 

[Psy]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 80 | Best Name
Astarte | 70 |
Hotted Boobs | 90 |
Lunarbase V2 | 60 |
Mannscape | 50 |
Moraine | 90 | Most Well-Rounded, Best Use of Pickups, Best Alpha Style
Scarab | 60 |
Skyway | 90 |
Wichita | 60 |

Might post feedback at some point.

 

[nesman]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 65 |
Astarte | 50 |
Hotted Boobs | 65 |Most Well-Rounded
Lunarbase V2 | 45 |
Mannscape | 80 | Best Name
Moraine | 90 |
Scarab | 80 | Most Creative, Best Use of Pickups
Skyway | 85 | Best Alpha Style, Greatest Potential
Wichita | 55 | Best One-Way Route

 

[imperialist]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 50 |
Astarte | 50 |
Hotted Boobs | 70 |
Lunarbase V2 | 50 | Most Creative
Mannscape | 60 |
Moraine | 65 | Greatest Potential, Best Alpha Style
Scarab | 55 |
Skyway |80 |
Wichita | 55 |

 

[Wilson]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa |60 | Greatest Potential
Astarte |40 |
Hotted Boobs |65 | Best Name
Lunarbase V2 | 25 |
Mannscape | https://i.imgur.com/WLFmW3o.png |
Moraine | 85| Best Use of Pickups, Most Well-Rounded
Scarab |45 |
Skyway |80 | Best Alpha Style, Most Creative
Wichita |50 | Best One-Way Route

Spoiler: aaaa

Decent "Chin Style" ctf map with fun gameplay, I am not sure what to say about it, really. It loses points because of how easy to is to set up a nest in the intel dropdown room and use it to get control of most of the enemy team's base, resulting in some very one sided yet slow moving rounds.

Spoiler: Astrate

On paper this layout looks like it could be fun, it has all sort of elements I personally think most good TF2 maps have, especially an A/D CTF maps, but I struggle to have much fun on it whenever it is played. A is usually a roll, offering RED no real forward hold position that isn't instantly overwhelmed or decent defensive position that isn't exposed from wide variety of directions. Usually A holds come down to mindless meat grinder of RED jumping onto the A point from above and running around the pillar that eats all the space from the point. Because A is usually such a roll and lacks proper defense, none of the routes, gameplay spaces or the flag really gets to impact the experience in any meaningful way.

The BLU forward spawn is also very awkwardly placed and I don't like how the forward flag spawn is so far forward, there is no punishment for the flag being reset when it spawns in a location BLU is always sets up in. B also plays very poorly, it is not very fun to attack because all of the routes feel like they are flanks and their entrances are so scattered that the attacking team ends up getting split into small groups. This causes the B gameplay to be five minutes of BLU bashing their head against the wall until they break through and then RED loses because of the same issues A has. (Plus the RED spawn is size of a small map, which also doesn't help.)

Spoiler: Hotted Boobs

It's solid, I enjoy it, but it does have some issues that have appeared as players have learned the map. Mid is very friendly to explosive classes, especially soldiers, it is too easy for jumping classes to get out of the enemy base using the not one way dropdown route and the medium health pack on the platform overlooking spawns really encourages spawn camping.

Spoiler: Lunarbase V2

To be honest, I personally don't think this map is anywhere near finalist quality, I am quite surprised to see it here. Player Destruction is a gamemode all about deathmatch and combat, the whole gamemode is centered around it. So when there is a PD map that lacks good gameplay spaces for all classes, the experience becomes miserable and boring, this map has that problem in droves. The main room is very awkward to navigate in and has no clear directions where you may be attacked from because of the multilayered round shape, the side rooms are all narrow corridors with nothing interesting in them and the capture zone is very open, flat and low gravity is absolute nightmare to deal with.

Spoiler: Moraine

Easily the best map in the contest, although it suffers from B sometimes routing defense away from their most important area to hold and the lack of delay when new a flag spawns, enabling the map to roll very heavily when BLU gains momentum after A.

Spoiler: Scarab

It's an alright map, but it really lacks anything to make it that interesting or fun. It also has serious sightline and visibility issues, the amount of noise on the map makes it a very overwhelming experience, not to mention massive frame drops because of poor optimization.

Spoiler: Skyway

Solid CTF with interesting ideas and solid gameplay, something feels a bit missing though but I am not 100% sure what it is. Good job, though, I look forward to seeing this one finished.

Spoiler: Wichita

Solid CTF map with fun gameplay spaces gimped but it's spawn placement and spawn camping issues.

 

[Emil_Rusboi]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa |70 | Best Name
Astarte | 75|
Hotted Boobs |75 |
Lunarbase V2 |65 | Most Creative
Mannscape | 85| Greatest Potential (pls finish at least any of your maps)
Moraine | 95| Most Well Rounded, Best Alpha Style
Scarab | 60| Best Use of Pickups
Skyway | 85| Best One-Way Route
Wichita | 75|

 

[ExtraCheesyPie]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 52 |
Astarte | |
Hotted Boobs | 48 | Best Name
Lunarbase V2 | 69 | Most Creative, Best Use of Pickups
Mannscape | 80 |
Moraine | 82 | Best Alpha Style
Scarab | 55 |
Skyway | 88 | Best One-Way Route, Greatest Potential
Wichita | 81 | Most Well-Rounded

 

[Defcon]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 50 |
Astarte | 60 | Best Alpha Style, Greatest Potential
Hotted Boobs | 60 |
Lunarbase V2 | 50 | Most Creative
Mannscape | 65 |
Moraine | 75 | Most Well Rounded, Best Name
Scarab | 50 |
Skyway | |
Wichita | 50 |

Feedback

Spoiler: aaaa

I generally enjoy the combat on mid - the silo and rooftops are interesting to play around - but it feels somewhat cramped and lacks a flank which allows a single sentry or sniper to cover every route. The map is pretty small in general which has the effect of enemies being everywhere at all times. I don't find the intel rooms very interesting to attack or defend and I don't think they do much to build on the chin ctf formula. Defending is very easy as the intel carrier must always pass through a single choke directly outside of spawn. Spawns are also fairly campable as the battlements overlook every exit while providing enemies with cover and pickups.

Spoiler: Astarte

I enjoy the variety of spaces - the displacements add a lot of interest to the combat. It's brought down by sightlines and flow issues. Last especially is fairly awkward and tends to either roll or prove impossible to attack.

Spoiler: Hotted Boobs

The layout is functional and generally balanced but I don't think the spaces are very interesting or memorable. Mid, the intel rooms, the spawn courtyard, etc, feel like missed opportunities that could have been much more compelling but were never developed despite how many iterations the map went through. Just some rough displacements would have gone a long way as most of the map has only two levels of meaningful height variation. Finding reference of real places to inspire the layout could also help things feel less generic.

Spoiler: Lunarbase V2

Mid is pretty unique and memorable but also chaotic. The lack of cover makes snipers and scouts really powerful. The areas outside of mid are somewhat boring by comparison and feel isolated from the rest of the map. I found the low gravity fun at times but it's difficult to attack the cap zone when you're slowly drifting through the air with no cover.

Spoiler: Mannscape

Layout is generally balanced and flows well but many of the spaces are extremely flat and linear. A few areas such as the side rooms on last, the low ground on second, and the garage on first are way bigger than they need to be. Like with Hotted Boobs I think some displacement work and using reference to inspire the design of spaces would help make things more interesting.

Spoiler: Moraine

Pretty enjoyable overall. I wouldn't say it's on par with my favorite official maps but it's definitely solid. The way the layout alternates between a series of fairly similar lobbies and courtyards can feel a bit repetitive, especially on first and second. For some reason I rarely feel completely safe or comfortable anywhere on the map regardless of if i'm attacking or defending. Sniper has always felt very powerful and I find it pretty difficult to set up as engineer so that could have something to do with it.

Spoiler: Scarab

I generally dislike PD and this map doesn't do much to make it any more enjoyable for me. I don't think the layout decisions are very interesting and while the artpass wasn't a factor in my score I do believe the map could have been stronger if development was focused entirely on the gameplay. Performance issues, long sightlines, and obnoxious Halloween gimmicks don't help.

Spoiler: Wichita

Parts of this layout are interesting but the lack of alternate routes for players escaping with the intel makes it very easy to defend. Escaping with/intercepting the intel is supposed to be the fun part of ctf, but when players have only one escape option it becomes predictable and frustrating. Spawn placement is also a major issue that results in camping and mid being extremely difficult to cross.

 

[Suna]

MAP | SCORE | HONORARY TITLES
aaaa | 66 | Best Use of Pickups
Astarte | 55 |
Hotted Boobs | 50 | Best Name
Lunarbase V2 | 50 |
Mannscape | 40 | Best One-Way Route
Moraine | 75 | Greatest Potential, Most Well-Rounded, Best Alpha Style
Scarab | N/A | Worst optimised
Skyway | 70 | Most Creative
Wichita | 65 |

Spoiler: aaaa

'chin' style ctf is certainly more entertaining than traditional ctf, but it has its own set of frustrations. For instance, there's one (intended) way into the flag room, and one (intended) way out. This.. mostly works. Getting INTO the flag room is quite fun, getting out is another story. It's just a total pain, especially if the enemy has decided to set up at least one sentry outside, effectively trapping you in the flag room, waiting for backup before pressing forward. It ruins the flow of gameplay and makes playing the objective a slog. In all honesty, I much prefered an earlier version of this map.

Spoiler: Astarte

I don't really have much to say about this, other than that it feels like a semi-decent CP map with a flag mechanic slapped on top. People commonly seem to forget the flag exists and just rush to the point, expecting to cap it. As a CP map is plays 'alright', but it fails to utilise any of the strengths found within a ctf-cp hybrid, and seemingly neglects the entire theme of this contest. If you're planning on working on this map in future, just remove the flag. I promise it will make the map better.

Spoiler: Hotted Boobs

Gotta be honest, I really don't like this map. It's certainly not the worst in this contest, nor the worst of the finalists, but it's certainly not great. This map was tested a lot, and barely seemed to change with each version, which may be the cause of my frustration. The one big change I noticed came right at the end of the contest, and ended up making the map worse, rather than improving it, imo. The one-way door dropdowns into the flag room are a joke, placed in such a position so that anyone trying to use them can be easily spotted from the enemy spawn, completely discouraging their use (plus, they're not a very good route). Speaking of dropdowns, there's a lot. Too many. It feels like there's one on every route and the amount of these is a real pain. In conclusion: eh

Spoiler: Lunarbase V2

The first time I played this, I actually liked it a lot. Then I played it a second time and oh boy I did not enjoy my time playing. I'm unsure if it's a map problem, or a player problem, but it certainly allowed me to take a more critical look at this maps layout. This feels like it was heavily inspired by monster bash, but lacks many of the defining features that makes monster bash such a great PD map. The design is circular, but many of the routes are awkward to navigate and not fun to fight in.

Spoiler: Mannscape

I think i'll keep this one short to prevent me rambling. Basically, the points are a pain to both attack and defend, the map makes it feel as though forward holds is a good option when it really isn't, and the design of each point, as well as the routes surrounding it, are awful.

Spoiler: Moraine

It's no secret that this is the best map of the contest. It's a great ctf-cp hybrid that actually makes use of the flag mechanic. Don't really have much more to say than that.

Spoiler: Skyway

I'm actually writing this as i'm playing it, and i'm having a good amount of fun, although BLU has 2 demoknights so that's handicapping it a bit. The design is pretty good, but it's traditional CTF so it inherits all the flaws that gamemode brings. Either way, I quite like this. (though I preferred the chaos of the first version)

Spoiler: Wichita

I feel rather conflicted on this map, I don't particularly enjoy it but I don't dislike it either. It all feels rather messy and awkward, though the gameplay isn't necessarily bad. I think this is due to rapid changes, resulting in a mismash of different versions. idk, it's alright.